Nests and Eggs of Familiar British Birds, Second Series / Described and Illustrated; with an Account of the Haunts and Habits of the Feathered Architects, and their Times and Modes of Building

by H. G. Adams

EGGS USED AS COIN.

The want of any copper coin in Peru has given rise to a curious practice of which Lieutenant Maw was informed at Truxillo. A person coming to the market of that city, and not wishing to spend a real upon every article, purchases a real's worth of eggs, with which he or she proceeds to market; buying an egg's worth of vegetables from one, and so on from others, till all that was wanted has been obtained. The eggs are taken as current payment, and finally purchased themselves by those who require them for use.